After her death, her fiancé demanded that her mother return her bride price.
A woman in China died by suicide after her family forced her on a blind date. According to South China Morning Postthe 19-year-old named Tongtong was pressured into getting engaged to a man she had met just five days earlier.
Notably, the teenager ran a small clothing store with her mother in her hometown. Her mother thought that the groom’s better financial situation would “make his life easier”. Although Tongtong was reluctant when the man proposed, her mother and a matchmaker convinced her to accept.
At the engagement ceremony, the man’s family gave Tongtong’s mother 270,000 yuan (Rs 33,40,730) as bride price. However, she didn’t like the man because he was rude and demanding. She even tried to break off the engagement, but the matchmaker convinced her not to, citing her mother’s financial constraints.
However, 17 days after the engagement, she made a drastic decision and threw herself into the river near her home. After her death, her fiance demanded that his mother return the bride price.
The girl’s greedy mother gave her 180,000 yuan but refused to return the full amount because the man lied about his age.
But the man’s family remained adamant and demanded the money. They blocked his storefront with a car and broadcast messages over a loudspeaker, demanding bride price.
Meanwhile, the teenager’s mother, the matchmaker and the man blamed each other for Tongtong’s death.
The tragic story sparked outrage on social media in China and sparked a debate about marriage and women’s rights. One user wrote on Weibo: “This is a horror story. The girl is a daughter, a future wife, a good financial resource, but never herself.”
Forced marriages are common in China, especially in underdeveloped areas. In urban areas, single women over 30 are often stigmatized as “leftover women” and face parental pressure to get married.
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
